marimastat

Marimastat is an orally active, synthetic hydroxamate and a broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor developed for the treatment of cancer. It mimics the peptide structure of natural MMP substrates and binds to the zinc(II) ion in the active site of MMPs, thereby inhibiting their proteolytic activity. This inhibition prevents degradation of basement membranes, limiting tumor cell invasion and metastasis as well as angiogenesis by blocking endothelial cell migration required for new blood vessel formation. Marimastat was investigated in several cancers including glioblastoma, breast, ovarian, gastric/gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, and lung cancer. Despite showing some benefit in subgroups such as patients with prior chemotherapy exposure or certain preclinical models (e.g., seizure inhibition via MMP9 blockade), clinical development was ultimately terminated due to lack of superior efficacy over standard therapies or placebo[1][3][4][5][7].

Other names

marimastat